Pai Gow Poker Dictionary ( poker )

A banking game based on the Asian tile game pai gow, in which players arrange groups of tiles into two hands, which then compete severally each against the two hands played by the banker. In the card version, each player makes a wager, and then receives seven cards, which he arranges into two hands, one consisting of five cards and one of two, with the stipulation that the five-card hand must rank higher than the two-card hand. These hands, after being set (arranged), are then placed in front of the player, and then compete, one at a time, as in a blackjack game, against the banker hand (which can be held by a player or the house). If both player hands beat the dealer hand, the player wins; if both banker hands beat the player hand, the dealer wins; otherwise it is a push. If either hand is exactly the same, that counts as a win for the banker, which gives the banker hand a slight edge. The banker hand competes against player hands in an order determined by the shaking of a number of dice. (This gives the game its alternative name of shake-shake.) This order is important, because if the banker loses his stake prematurely, not all player hands may get to compete. The house makes its money by always extracting a certain fee from every player bet, prior to the actual playing of the hands (and often takes that fee whether or not the hand is even played). Apart from the rankings of the hands being the same as in poker, pai gow poker is not really poker. Also called double hand or double-hand poker.